Moe is a bad dog.
He repeatedly gets skunked, escapes from our hard and electronic fenced yard on a quest to terrorize the neighborhood cats and local wildlife. Last week, I spent 3 hours pulling 13 porcupine quills from his snout. But here's what's so amazing about Moe. He didn't try to bite me while I was extracting the barbed and horribly painful quills with pliers. As I sat there feeling discouraged, looking at this suffering dog, I realized, what an extrordinary and sensitive dog he is.
The next day we competed in a freestyle frisbee competition.His generousity of spirit and amazing drive earned us a third place medal in a tough competition.
I adopted Moe 6 years ago from a rescue in Westport, CT. when he was 11 weks old. Theories abound on what his breeeding is, hound, terrier, herding mix....who knows, who cares? He is an athletic, amazing, kind dog.
Did I mention he is also a therapy dog ? It is certainly not his favorite hobby, nor is he the best therapy dog in the world. He prefers tennis balls and flying frisbees to hospital halls and smells that are not quite right. He doesn't love everyone unconditionally. There are some people he absolutely does not like and I have learned to trust his jintuition about people.
But once in a while, particularly when a patient is very sick, Moe will sniff the the patient's face, lay his head down on their bed and allow himself to be petted. These patients often cry and a deep and desperate sadness is revealed as they remember a lost pet or family member. But the grief seems to hasten the healing process both in the patient and often in myself.
Thank you, Moe, you are a truly amazing dog.
Rhinebeck, NY
